Information About
FCoE NPV

FCoE NPV is supported
on the
Cisco Nexus devices.
The FCoE NPV feature is an enhanced form of FIP snooping that provides a secure
method to connect FCoE-capable hosts to an FCoE-capable FCoE forwarder (FCF)
switch. The FCoE NPV feature provides the following benefits:

FCoE NPV does not
have the management and troubleshooting issues that are inherent to managing
hosts remotely at the FCF.

FCoE NPV
implements FIP snooping as an extension to the NPV function while retaining the
traffic-engineering, vsan-management, administration and trouble-shooting
aspects of NPV.

FCoE NPV and NPV
together allow communication through FC and FCoE ports at the same time. This
provides a smooth transition when moving from FC to FCoE topologies.

You can enable FCoE
NPV by choosing one of the following methods:

Enable FCoE and then enable
NPV—This method requires that you enable FCoE first using the
feature fcoe
command and then you enable NPV by using the feature npv command. When FCoE is enabled, the
default mode of operation is FC switching and when you enable NPV, the mode
changes to NPV mode. Switching to NPV mode automatically performs a write erase
and reloads the system. After the reload, the system comes up in NPV mode. To
exit NPV mode and return to FC switching mode, enter the
no feature npv
command. Exiting NPV mode also triggers a write erase and a switch reload. This
method requires the Storage Protocols Services Package (FC_FEATURES_PKG)
license

.

Enable FCoE NPV—When you
enable FCoE NPV using the feature fcoe-npv command, the mode changes to
NPV. When you use this method, a write erase and reload does not occur. This
method requires a separate license package
(N6K-FNPV-SSK9).
This license is also included in the Storage Protocol Services License.

Method

License

Write Erase

Reload

Enable FCoE and then Enable NPV

Storage Protocols Services Package (FC_FEATURES_PKG)

Yes

Yes

Enable FCoE NPV

(N6K-FNPV-SSK9)

No

No

Interoperability
with FCoE-Capable Switches

The
Cisco Nexus device
interoperates with the following FCoE-capable switches:

For
detailed information about features that require licensing and Cisco NX-OS
license installation, see the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide.

For
information about troubleshooting licensing issues, see the Troubleshooting
Guide for your device.

FCoE NPV
Model

The following figure
shows the FCoE NPV bridge connecting hosts and FCFs. From a control plane
perspective, FCoE NPV performs proxy functions towards the FCF and the hosts in
order to load balance logins from the hosts evenly across the available FCF
uplink ports. An FCoE NPV bridge is VSAN-aware and capable of assigning VSANs
to the hosts.

Figure 1. FCoE NPV
Model

Mapping Requirements

VSANs and VLAN-VSAN Mapping

VSANs from the hosts must be created and for each VSAN, a dedicated VLAN must also be created and mapped. The mapped VLAN is used to carry FIP and FCoE traffic for the corresponding VSAN. The VLAN-VSAN mapping must be configured consistently in the entire fabric. The Cisco Nexus device supports 32 VSANs.

FC Mapping

The FC-MAP value associated with a SAN fabric must be configured on the FCoE NPV bridge which helps the FCoE NPV bridge isolate misconnections to FCFs in other fabrics.

Port Requirements

VF Ports

For each host directly connected over Ethernet interfaces on the FCoE NPV bridge, a virtual Fibre Channel (vFC) interface must be created and bound to the Ethernet interface. By default, the vFC interface is configured in the F mode (VF port).

The VF port must be configured with the following parameters:

A VF port must be bound to a VLAN trunk Ethernet interface or a port-channel interface. The FCoE VLAN must not be configured as the native VLAN on the Ethernet interface.

A port VSAN must be configured for the VF port.

The administrative state must be up.

VNP Ports

Connectivity from an FCoE NPV bridge to the FCF is only supported over point-to-point links. These links can be individual Ethernet interfaces or members of an Ethernet port channel interface. For each FCF connected Ethernet interfaces, a vFC interface must be created and bound to the Ethernet interface. These vFC interfaces must be configured as VNP ports. On the VNP port, an FCoE NPV bridge emulates an FCoE-capable host with multiple enodes, each with a unique enode MAC address. A VNP port interface binding to MAC address is not supported. By default, the VNP port is enabled in trunk mode. Multiple VSANs can be configured on the VNP port. The FCoE VLANs that correspond to the VNP port VSANs must be configured on the bound Ethernet interface.

Note

The spanning-tree protocol (STP) is automatically disabled in the FCoE VLAN on the interfaces that the VNP port are bound to.

NPV Features

The following NPV features apply for the FCoE NPV feature:

Automatic Traffic Mapping

Static Traffic Mapping

Disruptive Load Balancing

FCoE Forwarding in the FCoE NPV Bridge

FCoE frames received over VNP ports are forwarded only if the L2_DA matches one of the FCoE MAC addresses assigned to hosts on the VF ports otherwise they’re discarded.

vPC
Topologies

When VNP ports are
configured vPC topologies between an FCoE NPV bridge and an FCF, the following
limitations apply:

vPC spanning
multiple FCFs in the same SAN fabric is not supported.

For LAN traffic,
dedicated links must be used for FCoE VLANs between the FCoE NPV bridge and the
FCF connected over a vPC.

FCoE VLANs must
not be configured on the inter-switch vPC interfaces.

VF port binding
to a vPC member port is not supported for an inter-switch vPC.

The number of VF port and VN port interfaces that can be supported
between a given FCF and an FCoE NPV bridge also depends on the FCF to MAC
advertising capability of the FCF:

If an FCF advertises the same FCF-MAC address over all of its
interfaces, then the FCoE NPV bridge can connect to it over one VNP Port. In
this scenario, we recommend that one port channel interface be used for
redundancy.

If an FCF advertises multiple FCF-MAC addresses, then the
limits in the previous table apply. For additional information, see the best
practices recommendations for the FCF switch.

The total number of supported VSANs is 31 (excluding the EVFP
VSAN).

The total number of supported FCIDs is 2048.

Default Settings

The following table lists the default settings for FCoE NPV parameters.

Table 2 Default FCoE NPV Parameters

Parameters

Default

FCoE NPV

Disabled

FCoE

Disabled

NPV

Disabled

VNP port

Disabled

FIP Keep Alive (FKA)

Disabled

Enabling FCoE and Enabling NPV

You can enable FCoE first and then enable NPV. This method requires the full Storage Services License. A write erase reload occurs when this method is used. This method allows both FCoE and FC upstream and host NPV connections. You must also configure class-fcoe in all QoS policy types.

Enabling FCoE NPV

You can enable FCoE NPV using the feature fcoe-npv command. We recommend this method in topologies that include all FCoE connections. A write erase reload does not occur when you use this method and a storage service license is not required. Enabling FCoE NPV using the feature fcoe-npv command requires an installed FCOE_NPV_PKG license.

Before You Begin

FCoE NPV has the following prerequisites:

Ensure that the correct licenses are installed.

Configure the VNP ports.

Procedure

Command or Action

Purpose

Step 1

switch#
configure
terminal

Enters global
configuration mode.

Step 2

feature fcoe-npv

Enables FCoE NPV.

Step 3

exit

Exits configuration mode.

Step 4

switch(config)#
copy running-config
startup-config

(Optional)

Saves the change
persistently through reboots and restarts by copying the running configuration
to the startup configuration.

This example shows how to enable FCoE NPV using the feature fcoe-npv command.